So, I’ve finished a wholesale revision and final(ish) edit on my Civil War novel, the first draft of which started me on my whole “Researching for fiction” series a couple of years ago. And in the process of working over that text, I came across another aspect of research I’ve long been aware of butContinue reading “Research tip #7: Check the map”
Category Archives: writing
A Writer’s Notebook: more of Beth Locke’s “A Louisiana Girl”
This is more of my grandmother’s story. The year is 1945. My grandmother, Beth Locke, has just turned 20, and she works at the nearby Navy base, where troops are returning from the war. (I think you see where this is headed….) Along about this time, my social life was at a complete standstill. I hadContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: more of Beth Locke’s “A Louisiana Girl””
The novella is the Bigfoot of fiction
It’s both funny and somehow appropriate that it’s taking many of us until the middle of June to realize that June now celebrates the middle child of fiction: the novella. National Novella Month is something Dan Wickett (oh he of the grand and holy Dzanc Books) got started a couple of years ago, and I loveContinue reading “The novella is the Bigfoot of fiction”
Zot!, heroism, love, and the bravest story in comics
I’ve been a fan of Scott McCloud’s books on writing comics — books on writing in general, really, because his insights into narrative purpose and narrative structure are fascinating — but for some reason it wasn’t until a few months ago that I finally picked up McCloud’s own graphic fiction, Zot! When I did, itContinue reading “Zot!, heroism, love, and the bravest story in comics”
A Writer’s Notebook: Beth Locke: “A Louisiana Girl”
This is another exercise drawn from my tutoring, this time from a high school junior who’s been studying The Grapes of Wrath. I’ll explain more below, but before you start reading, a little context: What appears in the Notebook is not my own work but an edit of something my maternal grandmother, Beth Locke (néeContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Beth Locke: “A Louisiana Girl””
Yet another novel playlist
I’ve written so many times now on how music affects my writing that everyone must be getting sick of it. And I’m not the only one doing this — practically every writer with a blog has commented on his or her writing playlist at some point. I think it’s because we all wish we couldContinue reading “Yet another novel playlist”
Jersey Devil Press is going down the rabbit hole
But you’ll be lucky if it’s just rabbits you find down there. Seriously, this is a fairly dark issue, in some beautifully haunting ways. There are stories here that give me the chills, stories here that make me want to cry, and — lest you think we’ve lost our sense of humor — stories thatContinue reading “Jersey Devil Press is going down the rabbit hole”
‘Libraries raised me’
Jennifer Snoek-Brown (yes, the name looks familiar — I’m lucky enough to be married to her) has written such a beautiful tribute to Ray Bradbury today that I can’t think of anything to add. So I’ll just share her post with you: ‘Libraries raised me’.
“You’re into some kink.”
There’s a funny post from The Date Report making the rounds on Facebook today. It’s all about “What Your Bookshelf Says About You To A Date.” The piece is short and definitely intended as humor, but it’s kind of fun and not entirely untrue. Of course, tracking what my books say about me to aContinue reading ““You’re into some kink.””
“And the whole town’s waitin’ just to hear me yell”
Over at Jersey Devil Press, we have a whole mess of cool projects in the works. We’re working on a special Halloween-themed issue of the magazine, we have the special novella issue coming out later this summer, and we have not one but two books coming out later this year: Eirik Gumeny’s Exponential Apocalypse: Dead PresidentsContinue reading ““And the whole town’s waitin’ just to hear me yell””
Samuel Snoek-Brown 